in
PART SECOND
There is a curious feature I discern To have come upon the battle. On our right We gain ground rapidly ; towards the left We lose it ; and the unjudged consequence Is that the armies' whole commingling mass Moves like a monstrous wheel. I like it not !
Enter another aide-de-camp.
THIRD AIDE
Our left wing, sire, recedes before Davout, Whom nothing can withstand ! Two corps he threw Across the Russbach up to Neusiedel, While he himself assailed the place in front. Of the divisions one pressed on and on, Till lodged atop. They would have been hurled back -
FRANCIS But how goes it with us in sum ? pray say !
THIRD AIDE
We have been battered off the eastern side Of Wagram plateau.
FRANCIS
Where's the Archduke John? Why comes he not ? One man of his here now Were worth a host anon. And yet he tarries !
[Exit third aide.
Time passes, while they reconnoitre the field with strained eyes.
Our centre-right, it seems, round Neusiedel,
Is being repulsed ! May the kind Heaven forbid
That good Hess' Homberg should be yielding there I
The Minister in attendance comes forward, and the EMPEROR consults him ; then walking up and down in silence. Another aide-de-camp enters.
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